Workshop on Crop-livestock Integration innovates by presenting field content online

The situation imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic also brings opportunities for innovation. To facing this challenge, on 12 May, Clube Amigos da Terra (CAT) of Sorriso, Embrapa and IDH held the Workshop Integration of Crop & Livestock. The new format took the experiences from the field to an online platform, by sharing the technical content and, at the same time, enabling the interaction of specialists with the public. The online event was broadcast on the Notícias Agrícolas website and on the CAT Sorriso website and maintained average access of 1,500 people during the five-hour program.

The content of the event consisted of presentations of field experiences, previously recorded, as well as live presentations, such as, for instance, the safrinha consortium for forage production, single and intercropped sorghum and corn crops for silage production, nematode control, effects of consortia on soil and cattle finishing systems integrated with agriculture. Moreover, the event also featured examples of experiences of the crop-livestock integration on farms in the mid-northern region of Mato Grosso.

“While ours was the first event of this sort be held online, in compliance with the prevention recommendations established by the Health authorities, I can say, with a great deal of conviction, that it was the greatest success. Our beds were very well prepared and presented by the speakers”, evaluated CAT president, Dudy Paiva.

For the Deputy Head of Technology Transfer of Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril, Flávio Jesus Wruck, the event resulted in gaining experience. “The great learning from the pandemic is that we have to be creative and look for new ways for transferring and spreading technologies in agriculture, which shows that these online events have great potential. And the result in numbers was well above what we expected”, he pointed out.

The executive director of IDH Brazil, Daniela Mariuzzo, has a similar view. “The moment of interaction provided by the virtual ILP Field Day was very important because several paradigms were overcome. People asked us ‘how will a virtual field day on ILP be possible?’ And with the effort and unity of all, we were able to share knowledge about the field with more than a thousand viewers, the majority of whom are farmers”, she added.

The Integration of Crop & Livestock Workshop is one of the activities of the Cultivando Vida Sustentável Program, launched in March this year by IDH and implemented by CAT Sorriso. The contribution is expected to exceed EUR 1 million, of which EUR 660,000 by the IDH and a match of EUR 780,000 by farmers, for activities aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the region through a territorial approach. Therefore, the program is part of the strategy to support  PCI (Produce, Preserve and Include) Compact of Sorriso.

The ILP Workshop was also supported by the Rural Union of Sorriso, the City Council, the Federal University of Mato Grosso, the Mato Grosso Cotton Institute, Agrisus Foundation and SENAR-MT.

For the entire content of the event go to CAT Sorriso website